Sydney Carlson-Zyats grew up playing soccer and thought she was accustomed to being part of a team. But last winter, Carlson-Zyats followed her other passion – running – and joined the Whippany Park indoor track and field team as well. She discovered a totally different form of bonding and realized she enjoyed it.

Carlson-Zyats upped her mileage, pushing herself to keep up in track workouts with the Wildcats boys. She'll be part of the cross country team this fall, as both the Whippany boys and girls try to defend NJSIAA North 2 Group I championships.

"When I'm running, I think, 'Wow, I don't know if I can continue,' but at the end, it's really rewarding to finish," said Carlson-Zyats, a sophomore who runs the 800 and 1,600 meters and 4x400 for the Whippany Park track team.

"For soccer, you're always competing against everybody to get the goals and the assists, and it's always on you. In cross country, you're trying to push other people. You want them to do well, and you want yourself to do well."

Nick and Joe Thoma have been pushing each other from birth. Identical twins born a minute apart, both grew up playing soccer and basketball and running together. But the Whippany Park cross country team has become an extended family for the Thomas, now seniors.

Many of the current seniors were part of the Memorial Junior School eighth-grade cross country team. Nick Thoma likened the way they tried to guide the sixth and seventh graders to how they're watching over younger teammates in high school. The longtime friends also have watched each other progress for all these years.

The Wildcats boys and girls train together, using a group chat to organize long runs. But where the boys have five seniors to anchor the lineup, the girls have just six runners all together. Joe Thoma finished second as Whippany Park won the sectional title by two points, with now-graduated Ryan Downey third and Nick Thoma fifth. Junior Lauren DeDreu is the top returning girl, seventh at the sectional as the Wildcats placed four runners in the top eight – three of them gone to graduation.

"I hold the responsibility the seniors did my freshman year, to lead everyone to a good season and show them how much fun the sport can be," said Joe Thoma, who hopes to run for a NCAA Division I program next fall.

"We've been rebuilding this team and trying to make it the best possible. With that comes a lot of hard work and dedication, and we've been picking up great guys along the way. We have guys who are willing to work hard and put in the effort to win. We've definitely come a long way."